Actual Posting Date 09-11-10

Thoughts in the Middle Watch

The devil's in the wind tonight;
hell is in my mind;
demons of the grief I gave
the girl I left behind.

For once;
just once;
in the grinding port of aching toil and din,
I paid to weep my pain in a woman's
gentle arms, and didn't think it sin.

But God ... !
Dear God ... !
Why did you hide your virus
in those mother-loving charms?

Now the girl who once adored me
lies gaunt upon the sheet,
stricken by my loving,
with lips that once were sweet
drawn back upon her teeth.

A thousand miles away,
my lovely waits for death,
and a bitter prayer she murmurs
with every ebbing breath;
and the bitter prayer she murmurs,
soulful eyes repeat;
‘I'll curse you out of heaven
if our paths should ever meet.’

Charlie Gregory
At Sea